Brave

"Pretend I'm Merida, speak to me. I don't want to get married, I want to stay single and let my hair flow in the wind as I ride through the glen firing arrows into the sunset." 

Ever since seeing the original Toy Story when I was nine years old, Pixar films have been a yearly event that I have always looked forward to. Their combination of excellent storytelling, great characters and phenomenal animation has always kept their films a cut above the rest and I have always looked forward to watching them tackle new stories and themes with each film. However, in recent years, the Pixar brand has faltered slightly, and I thought I would start this off review with a quick look at what I see as the reasons for this.

The first ten years or so of Pixar films were of such consistent quality was because it was the same people working on every film. John Lasseter, Pete Doctor, Andrew Stanton and Lee Unkrich basically ran the show; writing and directing the films and wearing other production hats along the way. The group of them essentially launched the entire genre of computer animated kids films that is so successful today. 

What has always put Pixar films above the competition is the brilliant writing and storytelling that appeals to both children and adults. While the films are filled with colorful characters and boatloads of jokes to satisfy the kids, there is depth to the stories and humor that adults have come to appreciate (and the kids learn to also appreciate as they grow with the films). Some of the stories have become so mature and sentimental that the intended audience is no longer distinct; I can't think of anyone young or old who wouldn't enjoy Up, for example.

When they first began making feature films, Pixar only had the resources to make one film every two years or so. As the studio grew, they switched to a film-per-year release schedule, which meant they needed to bring in new writers and directors to share the load. This first began with The Incredibles and Ratatouille where Brad Bird (of Simpsons, and now Mission Impossible 4 fame) was brought in to help out with writing and directing duties. These two films were fantastic and massively successful and it seemed obvious that bringing in new talent to Pixar was a great plan.

Not all writers and directors are equal, however, and this was seen firsthand when bringing in Dan Fogelman to help write Cars, Pixar's first big misstep (read my Crazy Stupid Love review for more on Fogelman's writing). Cars' silly concept, boring story and uninteresting characters led most to agree this was Pixar's worst film to date.  Nonetheless, Cars was still better than the majority of the nonsense Dreamworks had been pumping out, and the film was still a financial success. Cars also quickly became one of the most valuable merchandising licenses in the world.

After Cars, Pixar went back on a winning streak of WALL-E, Up, and Toy Story 3, with Toy Story 3 grossing over a billion dollars worldwide. Then came the disaster of Cars 2, which sadly displayed the cracks in the new guest writer-director format. Panned by critics and audiences alike, Cars 2 was widely considered to be Pixar's first "bad" film. Suffering from the same issues as the first film while making no effort to improve itself, Cars 2 features the same silly characters stuck in a borderline nonsense story that tries to make up for itself with action-packed scenes that go nowhere. The movie appeared to have been made solely to cash in on the merchandising, leaving Pixar's credibility severely damaged and audiences confused as to the level of quality they should expect going forward from the studio.

So how does Brave fit into all of this? Brave was written by a large group of talent, both in-house Pixar and not. Brenda Chapman, who directed the Prince of Egypt several years ago, was lead writer and director, but was in the end replaced by Mark Andrews (who had worked on several of Pixar's shorts) due to creative differences. While Brave has talent behind it, none of the Pixar bigwigs referenced earlier were involved in the film. Luckily, the film does not suffer from their absence and is, in my opinion, very good, and comfortably stands tall with the rest of the Pixar classics.

Brave is a much smaller film in scope than the typical Pixar fare, more akin to Up than Toy Story. Brave essentially only has two characters, Merida (Kelly McDonald) and her mother, Queen Elinor (Emma Thompson), and the arc of the story centers around their strained relationship. Merida is a free-spirited teenager who wants to ride through the woods with the wind in her hair, but her mother wants her to get married to keep peace in Scotland between the different clans. Merida and the Queen have a large disagreement and Merida sets out to find a way to change her fate and make her own destiny, leading to some unforeseen consequences. There are other characters, including a great turn by Billy Connolly as King Fergus, and Merida's brothers, who might be some of the funniest comic relief in any Pixar film to date, but their roles in the story are fleeting and supporting. 

The story, while predictable for the most part, is a great one, filled with heartwarming moments and great set pieces. It does not attempt to be an epic story, but instead tries to concentrate on the growth of the relationship between Merida and her mother and you will want to see it through to the end. 

I really liked Brave's antagonist being a strong female character (try naming five movies that have this) and found it refreshing. There is no love story to be found here, and Merida is as far as possible from your typical Disney princess as she could possibly be. The relationship between a mother and her daughter can be a precarious one, and though the way they overcome their differences in this story is decidedly supernatural, the themes of understanding and communication are relevant outside the film's fictional universe. 

Though you can say this about any Pixar film, the animation in Brave is truly incredible. The landscapes look they were actually filmed in Scotland, and I spent a large portion of the film just watching Merida's curly red hair bounce around realistically. The wizards at Pixar make it seem effortless at this point and seem as if they are looking for ways to continuously challenge themselves. The musical score is beautiful, composed by Patrick Doyle, a classical Scottish composer. Mixing celtic themes and some great vocal tracks, the soundtrack helps nail down the Scottish setting and time period and really adds to the film as a whole.

Sadly, Brave has not been a success relative to past Pixar performers, grossing less than $400 million worldwide in theatres. Was this because of moviegoers' newfound scepticism after Cars 2? Or perhaps the unconventionality of the story (no heroic men, no love story, no Disney princesses)? Or perhaps in the trailers it seemed too similar to How To Train Your Dragon (it's not at all, for your reference)? Whatever the reason, audiences did not flock to Brave in the way they have past Pixar films, but I can assure you it has nothing to do with the film's quality. If you like a good story, and are willing to give Pixar another chance, I highly recommend Brave to just about anyone. Here's hoping Pixar can get back on the right track going forward.